Landholders and community
Engagement principles
As one of Australia’s most significant domestic gas suppliers, Santos has partnered with many local communities, providing jobs and business opportunities while safely and sustainably developing Australia’s natural gas resources and powering Australian industries and households.
Santos continues to consult closely with landholders, councils representing the broader communities, and all other stakeholders.
The diagram below outlines the engagement process Santos will undertake with landholders to access properties for field survey works.
Compensation
Survey compensation and costs
Santos will compensate landholders to enter into voluntary Agreements for Survey, which will allow Santos and its team onto the property for survey works. Santos will provide reasonable and necessary costs for landholders to obtain legal advice regarding the Agreement for Survey.
Easement compensation and costs
Santos will choose a confirmed pipeline route after completing the consultation and technical studies phase. At this point, Santos will engage an independent registered valuer to undertake a compensation assessment to evaluate the compensation baseline.
With the construction and easement mapping, the valuer will undertake an assessment which includes the recent comparable sales data, land use and other important information required for an accurate compensation assessment. The valuer may contact you for additional information and Santos strongly encourages landholders to participate in the assessment exercise to capture property details and operations accurately.
Using the valuer’s assessment as guidance, Santos will provide a compensation package accompanied by a Deed of Option for Easement.
An Easement agreement fact sheet is available on our news and information page.
Please contact our Hunter Gas Pipeline team on 1300 427 546 or info@huntergaspipeline.com.au for further information.
Biosecurity
Santos is committed to protecting the environment, land, and land use wherever we operate. Santos has a broad and deep knowledge of working with high valued and complex agribusinesses, including Australian Certified Organic Standard properties.
Santos works with landholders to implement all practicable measures to prevent the introduction and spread of weeds, pest animals, and animal and plant diseases to minimise the risk of a biosecurity impact to a landholder’s property.
Weed control
All reasonable actions will be taken to ensure that, in carrying out our activities, we do not introduce or spread weeds, pests or pathogens. This is managed through Santos’ policies and work instructions which are available on request.
Santos will ensure that all vehicles and machinery entering the land on Santos’ behalf hold a current Vehicle Hygiene Declaration. Where vehicles and machinery have entered land that is known, or ought reasonably to have been known to be an area of biosecurity risk, a new Vehicle Hygiene Declaration will be completed prior to accessing the land.
On request, Santos will produce Vehicle Hygiene Declarations for each vehicle and machinery entering, passing over, or accessing the land.
The Hunter Gas Pipeline Biosecurity Plan for the survey activity is available here.
Insurances
Survey process
Santos has public liability insurance to cover all survey activities undertaken along the pipeline corridor.
Construction and operations
Santos’ proposed easement terms will include indemnification of the landowner for loss suffered or incurred by the landowner resulting from any damage to property or injury to or death of any person caused or contributed to by Santos or its Authorised Users. In addition, our insurance policy will respond to personal injury and property damage resulting from release or escape by an unexpected event from the pipeline. This will include removal and clean-up costs.
Any existing landholder insurance will not be impacted by survey activities.